Four ad trade groups filed a friend-of-the-court letter Monday backing Google’s bid to kill a class action over age-based ad targeting, telling a California appeals court that the state’s Unruh Act reaches only “arbitrary, invidious or unreasonable” discrimination. The Association of National Advertisers and three others say picking an audience by age doesn’t clear that bar, and that a broader reading would endanger retirement-planning pitches, student banking offers, and senior discounts. Richard Haynie and Constance Galloway, then 66 and 63, sued in 2024 over insurance and financial advertisers hiding ads from older users. Judge Beth McGowen refused to toss the case in June, rejecting Google’s Section 230 defense, and Google petitioned the appeals court last week to vacate that ruling.
